In two days my son will be going back to school. A new year of learning, of friendships and of sharing germs. Yes, even thought there are so many exciting things about a new school year… germs are not one of them. So I’m always my diligent in my efforts to fight them, and protect my family.

Although, I want to fight germs in my home, I’m not a big fan of using chemicals to clean and disinfect… especially with a child and a dog living in our home. To help me in my quest, MyBlogSpark sent me a Seventh Generation Back to School kit.

I can tell you there is nothing better than a clean, disinfected home that doesn’t smell medicinal. I hate smelling bleach and/or chemical odors in my kitchen. But with the Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes and disinfecting multi-surface spray cleaner your kitchen can be disinfected and smell like lemongrass and thyme – aromas that should be coming from a kitchen. By the way, my husband distinctly smelled the thyme and I smelled the lemongrass. Funny how we each could smell one scent stronger than the other.

With nearly 22 million school days lost each year due to the common cold and flu (CDC) and as many as 2.7 million bacterial found per square inch on common school surfaces (NSF International), it’s no wonder that 82 percent of parents with kids in grades K-5 fret about the germs in their children’s classrooms (according to a survey conducted by Seventh Generation).

This school year, Seventh Generation is sharing tips from best-selling author and pediatrician, Dr. Alan Greene, to help parents protect their child’s health during back-to-school season. Dr. Greene suggests taking the following precautions:

Optimize the immune system

Reap the benefits of probiotics like those found in yogurt. A recent study showed that children who received enough probiotics daily throughout the cold and flu season had a significant reduction in the number of illnesses they had and, when they did get sick, the symptoms were both milder and didn’t last as long.

Be sure your child is getting plenty of vitamin D from the sun, from food, or from a supplement.

Build a strong foundation. Good food, good sleep, and good physical activity all help the immune system to flourish.

Be wise about reducing unnecessary exposure to harmful germs

Teach children the key times to clean their hands in the classroom. The most important times include after sneezing, coughing or using the restroom, upon leaving "high-risk" places (recess, naptime, play stations) and before meals or snacks.

Sixty percent of teachers surveyed said that they request that parents donate disinfecting wipes to the classroom. Seventh Generation’s disinfecting wipes kill 99.99% of germs* naturally using the active ingredient thyme, a component of thyme oil which is derived from the herb thyme.

Stress the importance of not touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

Demonstrate to your children how to cover their mouth and nose for every cough and sneeze. This simple maneuver has spectacular results in decreasing the spread of viruses and bacteria floating about the room, waiting to be inhaled.

If you’d like to win a Seventh Generation Back to School Kit, here’s how:

Mandatory entry – leave a comment and share a tip on how you keep your kids healthy and germ-free.

For extra entries:

Like Seventh Generation and Blog by Donna on Facebook (in the right sidebar), then leave another comment saying you liked us on FB and get 2 extra entries.

Subscribe to Blog by Donna and leave another comment stating you’ve subscribed for 2 extra entries. If you already subscribe just say you are already a subscriber

Grab a Blog by Donna badge on the right and put it on your blog or site and leave a comment with the link to where you added it for 5 extra entries.

Blog about this giveaway with a link to this contest on your blog for 5 extra entries.

Tweet this giveaway – @BeShirtHappy is giving away an @SeventhGen Back to School Cleaning Kit on BlogbyDonna http://bit.ly/bDWrzy #myblogspark – and then come back and leave a comment with the link to your tweet, for an extra entry each day.

Please be sure to leave separate comments. Ex.: if you like me on Facebook or already do, leave 2 (not just 1) comments saying “I like Blog by Donna on FB”.

This giveaway is open to anyone in the United States and will be open until Friday, August 20, 2010 5:00 PM EST. One winner will be chosen by a random number generator at Random.org.

Just so you know:Seventh Generation provided me with the free product, gift pack and giveaway through MyBlogSpark the opinions expressed are my own.

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